Knock Knock-Searching for the Truth
by WanderingSoul96
Summary: When a lodger finds himself haunted by beings he can t explain, he starts questioning if what he sees is real. Science and logic are his dogmas but can they give him answers about what is happening? Why is this happening? What they want from him? Who is knocking the door?
1. Prologue

``_May 10th 1980_

_This is the third day without proper sleep, it is becoming harder and harder to do my profession, my head hurts like someone is hitting my skull again and again and my eyesight is just a shadow of its former self but nonetheless I must go on. My work is very important and I know someone will find a use for it, somewhere, someday…_

_It is midnight and once again I am not able to sleep or rest, it is probably somnolence from the excessive work I have been doing, yes that´s it…Maybe I should work less and rest during the day´´ _

Knock Knock Knock, someone banged the door several times. I grabbed the lamp on my desk and lighted the candle inside, who could be at this time in the night? I am not expecting anyone. There is no one inside this house besides me and no one lives at the forest. Then who banged the door? I put my slippers and walked towards the door, who could it be? Maybe a lost wanderer or someone in need ? Better check it up. The wooden door stood before me, but the banging has stopped for some time now. I grabbed the knob and opened it, the knobs creaked because of the lack of oil, I better fix that later…

Nothing, absolutely nothing. No person was standing at the door, no abandoned baby, no one calling for help and not even a lost animal. Just the murky forest with the same dead trees without a single green leaf. After looking at the sides to make sure there wasn´t anyone I closed the door and returned to my room.

**Knock Knock:Searching for the Truth**


	2. Eyestrain

**Author Notes:This chapter is short because I want to make strategic pauses, clifthangers I could say. There will be many more chapters and they will be a lot longer than this but the history won´t be TOO long but also not too short. I finished the game twice, heard some theories, created some of my own and listened to every dialogue the lodger has to say to make this fiction. You should be aware, however, that I will not follow the exact same occurrences of the game, some things won´t be include while others will be added, all for the sake of the atmosphere and "heart" of the game. **

**I believe the ones who didn´t play this game will understand what is happening, sooner or later. As for the ones that finished the game, I hope I can give an entertaining history where they can find some answers. This isn´t a straightforward tale, but "Just because you can´t see, it doesn´t mean it isn´t there".**

I walked back into my room, passed through the living room, the red hall, the kitchen, another hall, the kitchen…the kitchen? Didn´t I pass here already? I walked towards the window and looked outside.

It was still night, the moon was shinning in the sky but many tree branches stood in the way, casting looming shadows over the forest and the kitchen´s floor. The trees creaked in agony as a wind passed through the forest, fortunately the window was closed, as it should be, for it is very cold during the night. I returned to my journey back to my room, taking care to not trip or fall over with my lamp. Normally someone would light the lamps on the room, but I don´t feel the need to. The sudden light hurts my eyes and the trip back isn´t that long.

Finally my room! It took longer than I expected, maybe its because it has been a long time since I attended the door. How I miss company…I remember when many guests visited my home, how we would talk and chat all the night before they resume their journeys on the morning. But that was a long time ago, when the forest was replete of life and not the dying organism that lives on her place now. Mother´s nature is a machine, working systematically in cycles and this forest is no different. Leaves turn dry and then they become fertilizer for the next generations of trees.

I should probably get back to sleep or I will stay awake for the entire night. I wore off the slippers, placed the lamp on the desk and blew the candle inside. Now I have to do is close my eyes and hope to get some sleep.

Inside a dark forest lived a man, a scientist or a worldlogist as he called. The man had a short spiky red hair and a young face for his age, there wasn´t much else that defined his appearance besides that though. All his folk were dead or far, far away and so he lived alone inside his inherited house.

I was standing at the door again, with my lamp on my hand and slippers on my feet. How did I end up here? Did I walk here during sleep? Geez, I must be a somnambulist, that´s the only explanation. Fortunately I always lock the door so there is no real problem with that. I guess…I better check the forest. Since I can´t sleep it´s better to work a bit to pass time. I am a worldlogist, my research involves the changes of the world and how it works. My current research involves the changes on the forest, including the entire ecological niche of the place. I closed the door behind me and locked it. I am glad I am using my scarf because the night is very cold.

Interesting…I hear frogs croaking somewhere, so there IS still life in this forest after all. Or this was merely the sound of a cracking tree? The sound came again, no, surely it's a cracking tree, my mind deceived me again. The trees didn´t change a bit and the ground is still soaked with mud and dry leaves, I guess I don´t need to write on my diary this tim-What´s over there? Is that a man leaning on a tree? ``Hey you! What are you doing here in the middle of the night?´´ I asked walking towards the man, he didn´t even flinch. ``Are you lost?´´ is he deaf? I touched his shoulder, but then I felt a harsh surface, I was touching the branch of a tree. What? It is just a tree with contorted branches, I swear I saw a man here. I rubbed my eyes, it is definitively a tree, I must have thought the branches as arms and the trunk as the body. My candle is half the size now,I better go back home. When I turned, I saw something that could only be described as unaccountable.

Three animals were on the ground, chatting with each other. There was a fish with a human head, the fins covering the cheeks. A bird was chatting with a small deer, both had human heads, somehow they didn´t notice me. ``So, do you know the way back to the farm?´´ the bird asked, ``Oh my! What do we do? We are lost! Lost! Oh my!´´ the fish exclaimed, ``I don´t know any farm around here, but there is a city if you…´´ the deer answered. I can´t take it anymore! I ran the fastest I could back the way I came, wax fell on my hand but it didn´t matter I had to go back home. There it is! My house, my fortress! Where is my key? Where it is?! Oh here! I opened the door and…

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock…Ah! Uh? I am on my bed now. I put the blankets aside and sat on my bed. The clock is ticking, I am definitively awake now. What a horrible nightmare! I dreamed that someone knocked the door, I checked the door and went to sleep. But then awoke on the entrance, or so I thought and then…I saw that group of animals talking, I panicked and ran to my home. Uff! I am glad that it was just a dream, a bad one I must say.

These nightmares have been plaguing me for some time now, it is always the same thing. Someone knocks the door but there is no one there. Why I keep dreaming about that? I feel like it is something very important, but I can´t remember what. I must be really lonely to dream about that, I mean…I do miss the company of other people, but that can´t be helped, there is no one besides me at home and no one alive in the forest.


	3. Night Round

I looked at the clock at the side of my bed, it is five o´clock. As usual, the morning will soon come, I better check my house meanwhile, to see if everything is in place. I jumped off my bed and put my slippers, now where is my candle? Oh, here it is, on the desk together with my diary. I walked out of the room and into a dark room, I can´t see anything, even with the candle so I turned on the switch. Sparkles came from the lamp but it didn´t lit, I really neglected this house. Ah, I guess there is no other way, I must fix it myself. Let´s see…the strings are just out of place, ok there! This should do it, now for the switch. Eureka! Light!

The light is too bright! Ok, close my eyes and wait for them to adjust, one,two, three…I opened them again. The room is quite neat, this is where I put my collection of bugs, selected species are displayed inside cases on the wall, there is a shelf filled with jars on my right and a wooden table on my left. They are probably the only things left alive in the forest, for even small animals like birds seen to have perished. I guess everything is in order, now to the other room.

What is wrong with this house? This switch isn´t working too! I better fix this lamp too, or I won´t be able to work at night. Perhaps they broke because of the lack of use, or maybe the cable network is too old, one more thing to check later oh well…Done, one more lamp fixed. This room is rather small, a cubicle to be more precise. There is a white blanked close to the wall, as if hugging the surface. This is one of my spare ones, because my own is in my bedroom. It is rather dirty and used, I guess I was going to take it to the laundry but forgot. I will do it later, now I have to check the remaining rooms.

Ahrg! Uf!Uf Arf! My heart! It was just a lighting…that was loud! It almost blew my eardrums. Alright, calm down, it is just mother nature doing its job. Maybe it will rain soon and in the best hypothesis, bring some life to this rotten forest. Bam! The door closed behind me, weird, I felt an air current passing through me, that must be what closed it. It is locked? How it locked itself? The gears should work in circles, this wind shouldn´t lock the system. Fortunately I have a clips on my pocket. I let down the candle on the ground and put the piece of metal inside the hole. A turn to the left, two to the right, one up, three down…

The lodger didn´t see what was lurking behind the door and made the terrible mistake to stay inside the room. Unknown to him, a pair of black sleeves´ covered hands emerged from the door, as if trying to grasp his head.

The light flickered so I looked upwards. Oh gosh! I stumbled backwards, there is a pair of hands emerging from the wall, they backed away the moment I fell. Then the figure emerged seconds after, first the head and then the entire body. The light bustled in sparkles and the lamp stopped working. The figure is a floating black cloak, there are no legs and I can´t see a head, it isn´t just covered, it definitively has no head! I need to get out of here! I grabbed my candle, wax fell on the ground as I rushed to get out of the room. Looking back I saw the ghost going after me, moving forward and back but nonetheless going towards me. I need to hide and fast! But where?

``Stop´´ a female voice said, it sounded like a small girl talking, almost like a whisper. Why should I stop? There is a ghost going after me! Now I must find a place to hide, but I can´t see anything that can hide me well, all the rooms seem to be empty or just have small objects. Behind that sofa! Close the door! Now I have to blow the candle and then hide! Ok, I am crouched, the candle is off and the ghost didn´t see me hiding. I raised my head to spy if it was still going after me, the ghost just passed through the door, I crouched again and trembled. Don´t see me! Please don´t find me! ``Are you afraid?´´ the same voice asked in a mocking tone. No! Yes! No! Yes I am afraid! There is a monster inside my house! My fortress! How did it get in? Everything was locked! There must be a breach somewhere in the house and I must find it or more monster will come!

I peered again, the ghost seems to have gone to the other side of the house, this is my chance! I grabbed the candle and lighted it with my safety match box I had on my pocket, they have come to be one of the most necessary tools during night rounds. Even though I hate it, I must light it or I won´t be able to find my way back, I hope the ghost don´t see the flame. I must be cautious but fast or it will hear me. The being came from behind the door I was unlocking, so the breach must be behind it. I can´t see well where I am going, but this isn´t important at the moment. I passed through two large rooms, made a turn to the left, crossed a long hall and then crossed one more room. There! I can see the locked door now!

Oh no! the clips! I must have dropped it somewhere on the ground when I fled! Where is it? Here! Ok, now calm down, stop shaking your hands or you won´t be able to unlock it. Deep breaths, deep breaths…left, right, right, up, down, down, down….up and down. Success!

I am at the "bugs room" again, but everything seems to be in place, no broken wall, floor, roof,but….the light is off. I clearly remember lighting it before I exited the room, there must be some connection. When the ghost came into the room with the blanket it broke the lamp and it did come from here, where the light is off. So, if they are related to each other, the ghost broke the lamp and THEN entered the house. If I repair it, it should protect this room from another ghost. I don´t know if this will make the ghost go away, I can only hope so.

``Hey you!´´ the girl said in a creepy voice. Where is she? It is like she is following me? But I don´t see anyone. Oh no, no, no no! I can see the ghost coming back through the hall, how did it see me?! I need to fix the light and fast! This is bad! This is really bad! The cable is detached from the fuse, I must reconnect it. Stop trembling, stop trembling! What in the world?! There is a giant hole in the wall and behind it what seems to be a wall of fog. A giant eye is looking at me. I can feel a cold breeze sweeping my body, this must be the breach! The ghost is in the adjacent room, come on hands! It is coming! ``Don´t do this…´´ the girl whispered.

Light! The hole in the wall disappeared together with the ghost, af!Aff! That was close! Uf! Uf! What in the world was that? Was it really a ghost? There are no such things, they CAN´T exist. Ghosts are, like myths, fabrications of humans to explain the world. But they have foundations in faith and so are fake or misleading. What cannot be proven by facts and evidences can´t be considered real, for there is no proof.

Then what explains what I just experienced? There must be an explanation for what is happening. Also, who is this child that is talking to me? It was like she was…around me everytime, but I didn´t see her anywhere. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick. A clock is ticking on the other side of the room, how I didn´t see it before? Its marking five and fifty nine, dawn should come in a few moments. With light, this nightmare will end and everything should go back to normal. But I wonder, who is this girl? Is she even real? I swear I remember hearing her voice, in my head but…

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock. Where am I? Why it is so bright? Uh? I am in my bed again, I feel so tired… The sunrays are pouring through the window at my left, it seems it is early in the morning. Wait a minute…I swear I was in another room, just after I…closed a hole in the wall? I don´t quite remember, I am sure that I was doing a night round when a lighting scared me, or was that just a dream? My pillow is soaked with sweat, and my muscles are stiff so judging by this I was having a nightmare. Yes, that´s what happened, just a bad dream. Oh well…one more night without proper sleep. However, everything seemed so real…It doesn´t matter, it was just a dream, I have work to do.


	4. Legacy

_``May 12__th__ 1980_

_Today was another day of research, nothing unusual or peculiar happened. The forest is the same, the few surviving animals, the same…I know, that there is an explanation for the lack of change. The forest is practically dead, but with a scarce and little life left, it is like its fighting to survive, going on…Maybe it reached an ecological balance, where it can sustain itself with the bare minimum. Of course, with less animals there is a smaller necessity for resources and with that, the few rains that occur are enough to support the remaining life._

_I must say myself, it is hard to work alone. Sometimes, even the greatest mind need assistance, that happened to Albert Einstein and many other scientists. They only reached the truth with the help of others, unfortunately, I have no such commodity._

_The nightmare I had this morning still troubles me. Right now I can´t even remember what the dream was about, I just remember that I was desperately trying to close something but I can´t figure it out. It can´t be helped, if I can´t remember there is no use for me´´_

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock…the clock is marking one o´clock.

``_When I look at the clock, I imagine how much time I have left. My project seems futile at this moment, but anything can happen. There is a theory, that a meteor vanquished the dinosaurs from the face of Earth in a normal day, no one expected it. If I stop my research now, who can tell if there will be an extraordinary change tomorrow? No, I must go on´´_

I tapped the tip of the pencil on the table, is there something I am forgetting? I better check my annotations, they can give me a clue. Let´s see…here they are, on the drawer of the desk. These are about the trees, these are about the soil…what do we have here? It is a drawing I made when I was young, hehehe, I loved drawing back then. It is a drawing about me with my father and grandfather, we were such an awkward family. My grandfather always bragging about being too old for kid´s games and my father was always researching the forest. I cannot say I was a saint, for I always hid from my grandfather, forcing him to search for me in the entire house. I had fun, I must admit, even with the scolding of my old man.

I looked at the clock again, it is still marking one o´clock. What? I know that it should have passed at least five minutes. I put the drawing back inside the drawer and went for the human sized clock at the left of the desk. This clock is ticking, so why the pointer is immobile? I moved the pointer to its right position and it immediately returned to work. Humph, it was just stuck.

Now that I think about it, I think I had to fix something and bring something to the laundry. What was it? My blanket is clean and so do my clothes, so what I had to clean? If my blanket is clean, that means it is new, so I probably changed some time ago, then…there might be a dirty blanket somewhere on the house. I still can´t sleep, so I guess I will go after the blanket meanwhile. My lamp is over the desk and I am already wearing my slippers so there is nothing left to do.

I walked outside my room and went for a large room, I can´t even see the other side of it. My lamp is not enough, I will have to turn on the light. Broken…is that what I was supposed to fix? I put down the lamp on the ground and stood on the tip of my fingers to reach the broken lamp. One of the main cables is missing, weird, how something like that can detach itself? There is nothing I can do without the cable, I will have to find another o…What is this feeling? Why do I feel I am being observed?

The lodger slowly turned his head…not sure if he was just over thinking or being paranoid. But all he could see was the darkness of the room…

The wind is blowing a window at the other side of the room, nothing unusual there. Even though it is cold outside, my house is actually really warming inside since there are no openings where the wind can sneak in. Now, back with the problem. Where I guarded my spare cables? If I recall correctly, there should be a collection of spare materials on the attic, I should go there first. The ladder is over there, close to the wall.

The room is large, but I the only object placed in here is a telescope close to a large rectangular window, this is the observation room. The floor is composed of antique tiles arranged in a circular pattern and, like the giant equipment, is a relic of years ago. I inherited it from my father, whom inherited from my grandfather. I still remember my father teaching me how to use it, perhaps I should take a look? No, this isn´t why I came here.

There are two doors, one in the left and the other in the right. Which one is the storage room? Why I am even bothering? It is not like I could choose just one of them. Let´s see the right one. It´s the storage room, I can see the lamp´s glass shinning with the candle´s fire. There are many boxes spread across the room, each containing a specific material or object. Lamps, bottles, oil…here it is, cables. I ripped the tape that serves as a seal and opened the door, many different kinds of wires are organized inside, I need a black one. For some reason there is only a handful of the black ones, where there are several of the other colors. Soon I will have to obtain more of the black ones if I wish to work at night.

I receive supplies weekly from s town not too far away, someone pays for my project and sends food and materials for me. I never met this individual, nor I heard of him before, but I recall that I received a letter where the man states his wishes to bring the forest back to life and so will help my research. I guess I have to be thankful to whoever this man is. Creeeeeek! I can hear a door slowly opening, it is coming from below. Someone entered my house! I need to…Aaah! There is a figure standing at the open door! It is humanoid, with a white robe and as tall as me! But it has no head! It is just the legs, waist and then a box with many small branches as a head!

I blinked, what? There is no one at the door. But I swear I saw a person with a box head! It was just there! I must be sleeping, this is all a nightmare! Ouch! No? I am really awake? How can this be?! Monsters don´t exist! They can´t exist! That thing doesn´t exist! But I saw it! If I saw it then it exists! But this doesn´t make any sense! There is no one…Agh!

Where am I? Why everything is so dark? Am I dead? There is an orange light coming from the right, a fire maybe? I turned my head, a candle is burning on a small support with a handle on a desk. I am under the sheets of my bed. I recognize this room…it is my bedroom.

Was I dreaming? I recall writing on my diary before I went to the attic to grab some wires and then a monster appeared before me. But I swear it was real, I clearly remember working all the day, studying the forest and making annotations…Did I go to the bed and don´t remember it? Or was I awake?


	5. Diary

I stared at the ceiling, waiting for something to happen. How can I tell if I am awake or sleeping? Every time I thought I was awake something strange occurred, this last time is a perfect example. What can I do then? I better make annotations about this "dream", because people tend to forget their dreams rather quickly. But what if that wasn´t a dream…? Yawn! I feel so tired…I put my slippers and stood up. Now let´s write on the-WHERE DID THE DIARY GO?! I clearly remember leaving it on the desk! I don´t get it! Where could I have hidden it? It isn´t under any of the papers or annotations, nor inside the drawers. My memory didn´t use to deceive me like this! All this seems rather strange. No matter, I have to find it immediately or I won´t be able to work tomorrow!

Should I grab the lamp or the candle? The lamp is safer, I should go with it. I blew the candle, there is no sense in leaving it lit. I received this diary from my father when I was just a kid. He said that I would write my entire life on it and when the diary reached its end, so would my life. He was the last member of my family fond of speaking in metaphors. I was very young then and took his words literally, I wanted to live a long life so I rationed the pages. I wrote with my smallest handwriting, rarely and briefly. It became a habit. But after some months I forgot his words, for some reason they have come back to me now and they unsettle me…

Where am I? It is dark in here. Where is the switch? Oh! Here! Good, at least this one works. This is what I call the "sample room", it is here where I gather samples of all the resources found in the forest, ranging from leaves to insects. There is, a bookshelf with jars containing said samples, a large wooden desk on the corner with various tools on it and a…pile of leaves on the ground? Why I left these here? I put the lamp on the desk and crouched to grab the leaves, almost all of them are brown yet they still retain a certain degree of humidity. I should put these on a better place, they shouldn´t be left like this. Let´s see…all the jars on the bookshelf are filled, where I can place them? There is just this shoe´s box from my old man, it should suffice. I left the box on the desk with the lid open so that the leaves can receive oxygen.

My diary seems to be nowhere in this room, not in the desk, drawers or the bookshelf, I will have to search the other rooms. Bruh! Its cold here! Did I forget to close a window?

I can feel a breeze coming from the hallway, I must close this window as soon as possible. I am glad that I chose the lamp, or the wind could have extinguished the fire. What? The door is open. I always keep it closed and locked, there is no way that it opened itself. A paper flew in the air, taken by the wind. I grabbed it before it was lost. This is a page from my diary! The page is torn in the half, this is the lower half. It says:

"_You should play this game alone._

_Get up five hours before sunrise. Say to yourself three times:"I didn´t forget anything". Walk through your darkened house and turn on the light in each room. Go back to the room you started in and close your eyes. Try to focus on the first thing that comes into mind. If you imagine a face, that being will come to live inside your house"_

How did this page end up here? And why it is torn apart? Did someone steal the diary and ran into the forest? But who? And why? Maybe there is some kind of clue in the ground, footprints or a fallen object…I turned to get back into my hous-Where is my house?! There is nothing! Only the forest! I can´t see my home, the pack of trees are like barriers and I can barely see beyond two layers of them. How did I end up here? Am I dreaming again? What on earth is happening?!

Something is very wrong here, first my diary and then my entire house! There must be an explanation for this, there must be! But! But I can´t think of any plausible one! I must find my home at once! This place…is weird or am I hallucinating? But my house isn´t where it was supposed to be! I am extending my arm and there is nothing there! This is NOT a dream! I can feel the breeze, the cold, the thick air and the mud. Dreamers can´t feel anything even if they die during a nightmare, I tested it years ago during a self experiment. I must find my house! This is more important than the diary at the moment. There is a route leading forward and there isn´t enough space between the trees for me to pass so I guess this is my only option here.

….

….

…

This is not right, there is no end to this forest. I am walking in a straight path for I don´t know how long and didn´t reach the border. Uh? A bifurcation? There are three paths, one leading to the North and the other to the sides. Which one should I take? Wait, there is something on the ground, at the start of the right path. It is a note, no, a diary page. It says:

"_Dad said that the right way isn´t always the right one and an alternative path should always be considered. He frowned when I suggested choosing a third one"_

Hum…This is from my diary. It points to the right path so whoever that stole my diary went that way, but this page makes me wonder…It is too much of a coincidence, or I am being paranoid? I mean, there are more than a hundred pages on the diary, the chance of this one falling down is minuscule at best. Let´s see…the right path is straight, somewhat safe like the one I walked until now. The left path has some rocks on it and the ground seems a bit wet, a nice change for that matter and the middle one has a dense white fog: this one seems eerie.

The words from the diary are echoing in my mind, something inside me tells it isn´t coincidence but even still…I don´t know what is beyond the middle path and I am not sure if I want to know. I can try the right one, but it look like it isn´t going to take me anywhere. Meanwhile, the left way is different, maybe it will lead to somewhere else. But I don´t recall this path, I never saw it during my trips in daytime.

Maybe I can use the Moon to have an idea of my location. I looked upwards, where is it? There are too many clouds in the sky but I swear I can see a faint glow beyond a group of clouds on the right. I remember that my house is situated somewhere in the East so that means the Left path is the correct one. I gazed at the sky once more, just to be certain. What? Now it is on the left. Are my eyes deceiving me? I blinked, there are two points glowing in the sky, one in each side. I stared at the sky for a few moments, the clouds slowly moved to the sides, revealing two glowing points. These are just stars, the Moon should be somewhere else, hidden behind the clouds. But I still don´t know the way I should go, I can´t just stand here all night. I choose…right one. I just hope it isn´t a trick or anything else, because I don´t have anything to make a trail and return to this point again.

This trail is becoming more narrow, the trees are getting closer and closer. The branches are starting to get in my way and I lost count how many times I had to crouch under them. Wait, I can see a giant shade through the trees´ branches. It´s my house! I finally found it! I was about to run when I noticed the many roots spread across the ground, I should be cautious or I will end up tripping. I stepped on something soft so I looked down. "Hm?" I grunted. It´s a pile of brown leaves. Why my voice sounds so different? I must be getting sick by standing here on the cold. It doesn´t matter, I need to get back to my home.

The lodger continued to walk back to his house,. After he was far away the pile of leaves moved slightly to the side.

My house! I never have been so happy to be back! The door is open, just like I left it. I cleaned the slippers on the carpet and then closed the door. Ah! Home Sweet Home! It felt like an entire eternity in that forest, I don´t know how much time I spent there, but I bet it is an hour or two, at least. I slid my back on the door and sat on the ground. That was one tiring trip, but still…where is the diary?


End file.
